i woke up early sunday morning to go to movie church. yes, i actually went to church two weeks in a row, and i did so by choice! crazy eh? it was the second part of the series god@the movies: the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. i met thalia and her friend janelle at the theater and we found ourselves a spot to sit. i really love the way pastor bruxy carvey approaches his lessons. he does so in a way that is not so in your face, a way that allows you to glean whatever lessons you hear from his message without judgement or prejudice.
they showed a clip from the bbc movie when the little girl met the faun in narnia. the faun invited the girl back to his place for toast and sardines, and cake! the little girl obliged. when the clip was over, pastor bruxy said "wow, all it takes are sardines and toast to get little girls to come back to your place. that definitely won't work with my kids, but hey, i guess things were different in the uk back then." good on ya bruxy, ya hit it dead on, dealt with it, and then moved on to something else.
even edmund was tempted by the white witch with turkish delight and power. all it takes to get a little boy to come back to your castle is turkish delight and the promise of royalty.
the sermon got me thinking about who god is. actually, it was my conversation with my mother the week before that got me thinking. ok, i'm always thinking about who god is to me. in the movie what the bleep do we know, one of the scientists said "trying to describe what god is is like asking a fish to describe the water in which it lives."
i think the problem with most people's definition of god is that they believe that he is some entity that is separate from us, deserving of our time, our worship, or penance, in exchange for a reward of eternal life that they will receive when they die. do i believe that god exists? of course i do. to me, god is the part of all of us that we believe is greater than us...and there are an infinite number of ways to create god. she's not just in some of us, she is in everyone. by believing in something greater than us, we become greater than who we once were.
pastor bruxy said "your kingdom is the range of your effective will." i kinda liked that. thy will be done. if you think it, if you believe it, then you are it. "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." why wait for some promised land when you can make heaven a place on earth...oooh heaven is a place on earth!
after movie church we went to the dairy queen at union station to pick up a birthday cake for thalia and karen. they both share the same birthday, december 12, and funny enough they were born in the same year too. thalia and janelle went to zelda's in the gaybourhood for brunch while i stopped off at darryl and isa's to drop off the cake. karen then came and picked me up and we headed over to zelda's to meet up with thalia and company.
zelda's brunch buffet is fabulous, just like their restaurant. thalia had a good turnout of friends, and my friend terri even showed up to share some good company and a great brunch. and c'mon, all the sausage and bacon you can eat! who could ask for anything more?
after zelda's, thalia, karen, janelle, and i went to the science center to see gunter von hagens' body worlds exhibit. it is an anatomical exhibition of real human bodies that runs until february 26, 2006. the primary goal of the exhibit is health education through the use of a preservation method called plastination.
from www.bodyworlds.com
The invention of plastination is an aesthetically sensitive method of preserving meticulously dissected anatomical specimens and even entire bodies as permanent, life-like materials for anatomical instruction. The body cells and natural surface structures retain their original forms and are identical to their condition prior to preservation, even at a microscopic level. The specimens are dry and odorless, and remain unchanged for a virtually unlimited amount of time, making them truly accessible. These characteristics lend plastinated specimens inestimable value both for training prospective doctors and for educating non-professionals in the field of medicine.
the exhibit was mind blowing. looking at bodies that once lived, just the vessels that once housed a soul. or does the soul still exist in the body even after a person is dead? no matter what you believe, the exhibit was beyond educational. it was a trip! looking at brains after the person had suffered a stroke, or the lungs of a person who smoked cigarettes, or a woman who was pregnant with the fetus still inside her when she died. it was fascinating. slices of human life right in front of you, preserved for your educational pleasure. they were pieces of art.
this skateboarder was actually in this position, with nothing else holding it up. if you touched him, he would have fallen over.
many of the pieces had parts opened up so you could see what muscles were being used. they even had a camel that was plastinated.
if you get the opportunity, go see this exhibit. it will teach you what's beneath your skin. it will remind you that in the end we are all human beings, despite what colour our skin is or what religion we claim. if you want to donate your body for plastination, go here. those crazy germans *lol*
thanks to my friend andrea gurekas for hooking me up with passes for the exhibit. i only wished we had more time in the science center...man that place is fun. i think the last time i was at the science center was in 1997 for the citrus rave. yup, we raved inside the science center...and they had all of the exhibits open too. they had two parties there. i still can't believe we partied there. i remember there being five fire alarms during the night. all it took was one raver to light up in the building, cigarette or otherwise, and the fire alarm went off. 10,000 people outside of the science center freezing, waiting to get back in...it was just nutz! and raving!
after the body worlds exhibit, we ended up at darryl and isa's for dinner and the finale of survivor. survivor used to be a weekly thing at darryl and isa's. i have many fond memories of yelling at the television every thursday night before little v arrived. after 11 seasons though, i&d kinda lost interest. maybe it had something to do with a new baby, or maybe because jj abrams decided to go head to head with survivor by putting alias on at the same time. whatever the reason, it was good to be in darryl and isa's new place to watch the finale.
umm, can this baby be any cuter? well, looking at her parents, you just knew their offspring were going to be deadly gorgeous.
karen had also just got her new snowboard gear delivered that week, so we took the time to put it together at isa and darryl's place. even baby valentina helped with the installation. she's starting to feed the extreme part of her personality before her first birthday. that's a good baby.
dani won survivor. we ate chicken wings and cake. enjoyed some lifted spirits together, and darryl and isa gave me a christmas present...fear the power of darth tater! together he could rule the universe as father and spud!
happy birthday thalia and karen. thanks for your hospitality isa and darryl. i will miss you guys like crazy!
help me decide where to live on my messageboard!
~*...normaste...*~
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